ROLE OF ITSM TOOLS IN IT INDUSTRY

The challenges faced by the organizations involved in IT services have compelled the professionals invent new ways that can help in improving the level and types of series provided by them to their clients within their budget. So to end the tug of war in delivering services by IT companies ITSM or IT Service Management tools were designed by the IT professionals.

ITSM tools were introduced to provide management solution for the delivery processes of the services of entire IT industry. IT service delivery processes may include from requesting the generation of tickets to their research, analysis, capturing knowledge and resolution of issues. These tools have become popular among IT industry as they can be deployed faster to manage wide variety of daily requests for the services ranging from small amount to thousands in number.

Service components of ITSM tools The service components of ITSM tools include only configuration of the services to implement them on the whole IT system instead of coding them. A strong ITIL based service delivery framework is provided by these service components to ensure that the solution reflects the best services provided by the IT industry. The solutions provided by ITSM tools may include: • An efficient and multi-functional workspace for the professionals of IT team • Self-help and personalized services for employees • Support according to industry to provide continuous improvement in its services • Provision of analytics, reporting and dashboards, and enterprise level scalable platform • Quick deployment of services In order to understand the role of ITSM tools in IT industry you should know certain basic things about ITSM.

Introduction to ITSM and its benefits for IT industry ITSM or Information Technology Service Management has become an important service tool these days because it was designed on basis of keeping focus on the satisfaction of the customers. The customer can either be the employee within the technology or from outside who has issues relating to customer services. So for this reason, these tools are designed as process oriented tools which take of the product or service life cycle of an organization from very beginning to the end.

Moreover ITSM is associated with common interests of improving key business processes through the best practices of the industry as this process oriented solution is designed with a focus to support the needs of the customers like Six Sigma, ITIL and Total Quality Management etc. The main focus of ITSM is to provide an effective and proven framework to align and structure activities related to IT along with the interactions of business customers and users with IT technical personnel as it is based on the priorities of the customer’s needs.

Traditionally ITSM was related to provide back office support to the employees to provide them a reliable platform including software and hardware to perform their duties. For instance the computer system and the software required by the marketing team of the company should be made functional at high performance level to allow the team to do its job perfectly. Industries including government, healthcare, education, financial, retail, travel and manufacturing use specific IT systems according to their business or mission for the day to day round the clock success of their business. ITSM in this respect can be considered as end-to-end discipline for IT to be used for planning enterprise resources.

Benefits of ITSM for an organization ITSM tools provide a good solution for the IT team of an organization to help them in automating their IT run routine processes including the establishment of clear baselines of the business to measure its performance and to establish whether the customer requirements are met along with achieving the goals of the business or not. In order to assess the overall maturity of your business functions, validation of current processes and developing a blueprint for the strategy of IT services a comprehensive ITSM methodology is required so that your organization can enjoy its benefits.

ITSM can provide cost effective, high quality IT related services according to the needs of your business after being established successfully. The productivity of your IT staff and the users of company’s products and services as well as applications generating revenue for the company can decrease if its IT services are not properly aligned which ultimately weakens the experience of the customers for your business. For these reasons, companies cannot take the risk of ignoring the importance of sound ITSM tools for the betterment of their business.

Things to consider while choosing ITSM tools Analysis of the needs of the business: You should consider the needs of your business while choosing an ITSM tool for improving the services provided to its customers for their satisfaction. It is important to analyze the needs along with the assessment of the maturity of ITSM processes.

Identification of suppliers: While searching for suppliers your business must be ready to take risk in this regard. You should consider your existing supplier, if any, and the ability to collect products and services from various vendors while searching for another supplier for your business. In this process, ITSM can help you in assessing the scope of an assembly required for this purpose so that your organization can get the best solutions in this regard.

Specification of your requirements: Instead of just writing down the selected features required in the marketing material of the vendor you will have to do something to specify your requirements. It must reflect the products that can enable your business process as per your requirements and expectations. The ITSM program should be implementable as per the needs of the business by designing or redesigning the deliverables of the process.

Do research: You should make some efforts in researching to make right decisions about the quality of your products and services. You should also understand the thought of each vendor regarding the expert leadership of the organization. Nothing can match with your research about ITSM tools that can help you in making well informed decisions for the improvement of your business processes. Thus ITSM tools play a great role in improving the performance of IT industry.

About the Author

Eshna is a writer at Simplilearn. She has done Masters in Journalism and Mass Communication and is a Gold Medalist in the same. A voracious reader, she has penned several articles in leading national newspapers like TOI, HT and The Telegraph. She loves traveling and photography.